Straw Puppets Show Their Might

Zhao Xing's actions on the grass field caught the eyes of the three examiners aboard the flying vessel.

He had mainly been among the quickest minor officials to react and begin making straw puppets, and both his speed and craftsmanship were quite impressive.

Other people's straw puppets staggered about, but Zhao Xing's could run and jump, lifelike in every way.

"Hmm? The Willow Transmission Eighty-One Weaving Method. Is this lad a minor official under Lord Gao or Lord Tang?" Chen Shijie asked.

Gao Linong and Tang Wanchun looked at each other. Neither of them had mastered the method in full, so they had not even recognized it at first, let alone taught it. How could they teach something they did not know themselves?

"He is not one of my minor officials."

"Nor is he one of mine."

"Oh? This lad's Straw Man Art is quite exquisite. I wonder whose minor official he is."

Tang Wanchun pondered for a moment. "Other than Lord Chen, I estimate only Old Sima Nong Xue knows the complete Willow Transmission Eighty-One Weaving Method."

Chen Shijie nodded slightly. Xue Wenzhong had served as Minister of Agriculture for over sixty years, so it was only natural that he knew more.

At his reminder, Tang Wanchun and Gao Linong also began watching Zhao Xing.

Before long, however, they saw Zhao Xing fighting someone over grass, hurling stones at him, and forcing his colleague to retreat.

Gao Linong snorted. "Hmph. This man has a vile temperament. For the sake of a pile of grass, he actually attacked a colleague. Truly disgraceful."

Tang Wanchun merely glanced over without saying a word. He was watching Chen Shijie's reaction. The chief had just praised that minor official, yet Old Gao was already singing a different tune. That was rather tactless.

Chen Shijie said calmly, "Those of the Ministry of Agriculture contend with heaven and earth for food. A little edge is perfectly normal. Take Li Chengfeng, a minor official under Lord Gao—I find him quite high-profile in ordinary times."

Gao Linong's eyelid twitched. Only then did he realize that he had misspoken. Even if that was what he thought, he should not have said it aloud.

Chen Shijie came from the Northern Barren Mountains and endured many natural disasters and hardships. Perhaps this boy's conduct actually suits his tastes. With that thought, Gao Linong immediately changed his tune.

"Lord Chen has great insight. My view was too shallow. Besides, he reached that pile of grass first, so he was in the right to begin with."

What did it mean when a higher-ranking official could crush a lower-ranking one? This was exactly what it meant.

Chen Shijie had merely given him a slight reprimand, yet Gao Linong immediately had to agree, because he was the deputy while Chen Shijie was the chief.

Zhao Xing had no idea about the discussion among the three examiners aboard the flying vessel. After using up the third pile of grass, he finally left the grass field.

By then, he had made a total of seventy-six Straw Puppets!

Under the pressure, he became even more focused. By the time he made his sixtieth straw puppet—

His Repeating Straw Puppet proficiency had surpassed 1,000, reaching the level of a "First-Turn spell."

Thus, the final sixteen straw puppets were faster, nimbler, and stronger.

"That should be enough."

Beside the assigned field, seventy-six straw puppets marched into the farmland, standing with bamboo poles in hand like soldiers awaiting battle.

Zhao Xing checked his panel.

His vital energy had fallen below 50.

At this rate, my Cloudcalling and Thunderclap spells will not last much longer. Maintaining those two spells consumes far more than the straw puppets.

After all, straw puppets were supported by physical materials. Once made, they no longer required vital energy, while Cloudcalling and Thunderclap consumed much more.

Still, Zhao Xing decided to keep forcing himself until he could no longer hold on.

After all, straw puppets were not as effective as Cloudcalling and Thunderclap. There would certainly be many oversights.

During the first quarter-hour of the Lesser Heat Assessment, Cloudcalling and Thunderclap blocked nearly all the Grain Eating Birds.

During the second quarter-hour, the straw puppets arrived beneath the assigned fields and waited.

During the third quarter-hour, the frequency of Thunderclap weakened. Grain Eating Birds began breaking through the clouds to peck at the Yuan Rice, but the straw puppets stopped them.

During the fourth quarter-hour, Zhao Xing completely gave up Thunderclap, using only Cloudcalling to block the Grain Eating Birds. One-third of them swooped down, and the straw puppets began driving them away with all their strength.

During the fifth quarter-hour, the straw puppets struck down many Grain Eating Birds, but five straw puppets were also destroyed.

During the sixth quarter-hour, one-third of the Grain Eating Birds that had gone too long without food flew away, but the number of destroyed straw puppets had also reached twenty-five.

During the seventh quarter-hour, Cloudcalling shrank. Under the scorching heat, Zhao Xing's vital energy gradually failed him. He used the straw puppets to lure away the Grain Eating Birds, because the puppets were also made from Yuan Rice stalks, a part the birds loved to eat. But as a result, he lost more than half of his straw puppets.

During the eighth quarter-hour, Cloudcalling shrank by another half. Half the fields had already been exposed. Zhao Xing sent all the straw puppets out as "sacrifices," allowing the remaining Grain Eating Birds to peck at them freely, while the fields below also began suffering damage.

When the ninth quarter-hour arrived, a bell rang out in the sky. Every Grain Eating Bird above and below the public fields flew away, vanishing into the white clouds.

"Phew... phew..."

Zhao Xing's mouth was dry, and sweat drenched his body.

But he had no time to worry about that. He hurriedly checked the condition of his assigned field.

"The southern half-mu suffered the most damage. It was exposed first, and I used it as a sacrifice, drawing all of them over here."

"The other few mu only suffered minor losses."

Zhao Xing made a round of inspection and felt slightly relieved.

Then he looked at the straw puppets. Only eight remained, each damaged in some way. If those eight had not reached First-Turn strength, they would likely have fallen long ago.

"It's over. Time to rest." Zhao Xing waved his hand, and the remaining eight straw puppets lost their luster and collapsed beside the fields.

The heat was unbearable, and after an hour of hard fighting, Zhao Xing felt exhausted in both body and mind. He wanted nothing more than to fall asleep immediately.

The cries of anguish from minor officials filled the surroundings.

This assessment had been far more difficult than usual, and many people's assigned fields had suffered devastating losses.

The vast majority had lost more than half their crops. Some had even been picked clean.

"More than a month of hard work, gone just like that?"

"Damn Grain Eating Birds! How hateful!"

"Sigh, who can I blame but myself for lacking skill? I should just wait obediently for the retest."

"At best, the retest will only earn a C-plus. That is merely a passing grade, and it will waste more energy. How am I supposed to handle the next assessment?"

"When was becoming a ninth-rank official ever easy? The Ministry of Agriculture is considered decent—over five hundred people compete for just three to five positions. The East Lake Army is worse. For a single ninth-rank deputy general position, three to five thousand people compete!"

"Let alone joining the army. Even the artisan officials of the Heavenly Craft Workshop have nearly a thousand people competing."

"I only regret that I was not born a woman. I hear the competition at the Weaving Workshop is not nearly this fierce."

"Ugh, you have no ambition at all."

"..."

Just then, dark clouds suddenly filled the sky, and rain began to fall.

"Patter, patter..."

The raindrops were sparse and fine at first, but soon became large and dense.

The temperature in the air plummeted as well.

Zhao Xing dropped onto the field and let the Rain Water wash over him.

The shower came quickly and left just as quickly.

It was clearly controlled by someone.

After giving the minor officials a quarter-hour to rest and recover, the sky suddenly cleared again. The dark clouds turned white, returning to the normal Minor Heat season.

A flying vessel descended from the clouds onto the grass field. Three men stood at its prow: Chen Shijie, chief official of the Ministry of Agriculture, along with his two deputies, Gao Linong and Tang Wanchun.

"They're here. They're going to announce the Lesser Heat Assessment results." Zhao Xing roused himself and headed toward the grass field.